NDL eventually built a large fleet of ships that carried many thousands of emigrants westwards, with around 218,000 passengers transported across the Atlantic in 1913 alone.

[9] As with HAPAG, those NDL ships surviving the war were eventually confiscated as reparation, leaving the company to start over from scratch.

[10] One such exception was the Bremen, which raced across the Atlantic, and achieved protection at Murmansk in 1939, before eventually making a dash for Bremerhaven, where she was ultimately destroyed by a fire in 1941.

[11] Passenger service resumed in 1954 with the Gripsholm formerly belonging to the Swedish American Line (the ship was renamed to MS Berlin only the following year).

[12] Later two other second-hand ships, SS Bremen (formerly Pasteur) and MS Europa (formerly Swedish American Line's Kungsholm), were purchased.

The "Hapag-Lloyd Container Line", founded in 1967 and operating from 1968 onward, was established to share the huge investments related to the containerisation of the fleets.

[13] In August 2008, TUI announced an intention to sell its entire stake in Hapag-Lloyd shipping activities before the end of that year.

[18] Around three months later, on 19 April 2023, Hapag-Lloyd also acquired a 40% stake in J M Baxi Ports & Logistics Limited (JMBPL), a terminal and inland transport service provider in India.

[19] In August 2023, it was announced Hapag-Lloyd had acquired SM SAAM's terminal business and related logistics services in the Americas.

[22] Also in 2023, Hapag-Lloyd and the Brazilian shipping and waterway logistics company Norsul set up a new joint venture called “Norcoast”.

Based on a 50-50 partnership, Norcoast started offering container cabotage and feeder services in Brazilian ports in the first quarter of 2024.

[30] As a result of the merger, Hapag-Lloyd strengthened its position as the world's fifth-largest container transporter in terms of vessel capacity, ahead of Taiwan's Evergreen Line.

[34] Its network covered over 220 ports, offering containerized and conventional cargo shipping by a fleet of 58 owned and chartered vessels.

[36] In March 2021, Hapag-Lloyd announced the acquisition of Nile Dutch Investments B.V., a leading container service provider to and from West Africa.

Hapag-Lloyd Flug used the IATA code HF and became a directly owned subsidiary of Preussag AG (now renamed as TUI Group) in 1999.